“A widespread internet outage took down multiple websites Tuesday morning, including Amazon, Google, Reddit, CNN and USA TODAY.
DownDetector, a site that tracks website outages, reported that a long list of sites, which also included Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Hulu, Spotify, Etsy and Paypal, started experiencing problems just after 5:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Comcast, Verizon and Cox were also impacted.
The outage may be linked to Fastly, a cloud platform that powers websites such as The New York Times and Shopify.
Visitors trying to access CNN.com got a message that said: ‘Fastly error: unknown domain: cnn.com.’ Attempts to access The Financial Times website turned up a similar message while visits to The New York Times and Britain's gov.uk site returned an ‘Error 503 Service Unavailable’ message, along with the line ‘Varnish cache server,’ which is a technology that Fastly is built on.” Read more at USA Today
“A Senate report out this morning finds that the Capitol Police intelligence division was gathering data online about plots to breach the Capitol — including maps of tunnels — in December, but the threat wasn't relayed.
Capitol Police leadership, rank-and-file officers and federal law enforcement were left in the dark — and thus unprepared for the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, Axios' Alayna Treene and Orion Rummler write from the 127-page report.
Capitol Police ‘began gathering information about events planned for January 6 in mid-December 2020,’ the report says. ‘Through open source collection, tips from the public, and other sources, [the intelligence division] knew about social media posts calling for violence at the Capitol on January 6, including a plot to breach the Capitol, the online sharing of maps of the Capitol Complex's tunnel systems, and other specific threats of violence.’
Then there were intelligence, operational and security failures,the senators found: The information wasn't shared, up or down the line.
The report — by the Democratic chairs and ranking Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees — found:
Capitol Police had no operational or staffing plan for the Jan. 6 joint session to count and certify the 2020 Electoral College votes.
Capitol Police officers didn't have adequate equipment or training.
The intelligence wasn't relayed to the FBI and departments of Homeland Security, Justice or Defense.
The Pentagon wanted to avoid looking over-militarized after its response to Black Lives Matter protests.
DOJ was the lead federal agency for security and response on Jan. 6, but never created a security plan and didn't coordinate a response, former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the committees.” Read more at Axios
“Vice President Kamala Harris will complete the second leg of her foreign trip Tuesday in Mexico, where she'll meet with the country's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In addition to meeting with López Obrador, a vocal critic of President Joe Biden, Harris will also speak to other Mexican officials and local female entrepreneurs to help deepen ties between the two countries and mitigate migration to the United States' southern border. The border will be a focal point of Harris' discussions Tuesday as she seeks cooperation on a politically fraught issue that has dogged the Biden administration in its first months. While visiting Guatemala Monday, Harris announced new initiatives to address corruption and human trafficking in Central America.” Read more at USA Today
“West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who has announced he will vote against the party's flagship voting reform package and has repeatedly stated he will not vote to eliminate the filibuster, will meet with civil rights figures, including Rev. Al Sharpton and Marc Morial, in Washington Tuesday. President Joe Biden urged them to visit Manchin to discuss the voting bill and the legislative agenda. Manchin's opposition to the voting rights bill is such a blow because many Democrats view it as crucial to protecting democracy and a direct response to restrictive new voting laws in Republican-led states.” Read more at USA Today
“In other immigration news, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday that the government can block immigrants with temporary protected status from applying for green cards if they entered the country unlawfully. The decision could also have implications for Dreamers unless Congress paves a permanent lawful status for those undocumented immigrants brought to the US as kids, one expert said. The high court also agreed to take up a case next term brought by three Muslim men who seek to challenge the FBI over its surveillance of their mosque. Additionally, the justices declined for now to take up a challenge to the male-only registration requirement for the military draft -- meaning that even though the draft is not implemented, only men will still be required to register for the selective service.” Read more at CNN
“Global law enforcement agencies hacked into an app used by criminals and read millions of encrypted messages, leading to hundreds of arrests of organised crime figures in 18 countries.
The operation by Australian and European police and the FBI in the US ensnared suspects in Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East involved in the narcotics trade, officials said on Tuesday.
More than 800 suspected members of organised crime gangs were arrested and $148m in cash seized in raids around the world. Drugs were also seized, the officials said.
Named Operation Trojan Shield by the FBI, it was one of the biggest infiltrations and takeovers of a specialised encrypted network.” Read more at The Guardian
“Newly obtained audio shows how former President Trump's longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies about then-candidate Joe Biden. During a roughly 40-minute call, Giuliani repeatedly told a senior adviser to the Ukrainian President that the country's leader should publicly announce investigations into possible corruption by Biden in Ukraine and into claims that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to hurt Trump (neither assertion is true). The conversation was a precursor to Trump's infamous call with the Ukrainian President, and both conversations became a central part of Trump's first impeachment.” Read more at CNN
“For the first time in nearly 20 years, the FDA has approved a new experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease. The drug -- aducanumab, also known as Aduhelm -- is unique in that it's intended to slow the progression of the disease in early phases and not just ease symptoms, as medications available now do. But the agency's approval of the drug was also controversial: Study results have been mixed, and an advisory committee concluded last year that there was not enough evidence to support the treatment's effectiveness. The drug's hefty price tag has prompted concerns, too. Still, for those with mild cognitive impairment and their families, the drug offers some hope.” Read more at CNN
“LONDON — A British police officer has pleaded guilty to the rape and kidnapping of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who went missing while walking home from a friend’s house in London on the night of March 3.One week after she vanished, her body was found in a bag in woodland in the county of Kent.
Police officer Wayne Couzens, who joined the Metropolitan police force in 2018, was charged with Everard’s kidnap and murder. On Tuesday he admitted to kidnapping Everard ‘unlawfully and by force or fraud’ and raping the marketing executive. He did not enter a plea for her murder, but those gathered in court heard that he had accepted responsibility for her death…
Following her disappearance, Britons united in outrage and grief took to the streets and social media to share their own accounts of assault and to demand change. At a vigil organized to pay tribute to Everard earlier this year, London’s Metropolitan Police force was widely condemned as officers used force to break apart groups of mourners.” Read more at Washington Post
“Here's another reason to encourage everyone you know to get the shot: On the off chance a fully vaccinated person does get infected with Covid-19, they experience milder illness and are less likely to spread the virus to others, according to a CDC study. Despite that benefit -- and many others -- the US still isn't on track to hit President Biden's goal of getting 70% of adults at least one shot by July 4. Misinformation and vaccine hesitancy remain challenges, and experts say states will need to redouble their efforts to reach the target. Meanwhile, vaccines for younger age groups are on the horizon: Moderna says 5-year-olds could get the shot by fall.” Read more at CNN
“The Mastercard Foundation on Tuesday announced a $1.3 billion donation to boost Africa’s response to the coronavirus, which public health experts hailed as a significant step to get vaccines to some of the world’s poorest people.” Read more at Washington Post
“Change of heart | India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free vaccinations for all adults, a reversal of a previous policy that forced states to compete with the private sector for scarce supplies for those aged 18 to 45. Prompted by criticism of his handling of the nation’s deadly second virus wave and its botched immunization roll out, there is no indication India has anywhere near enough vaccines to fulfill his promise.
The delta Covid-19 variant is the most infectious so far, with doctors in India reporting new symptoms, including hearing impairment, severe gastric upsets and blood clots leading to gangrene.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has reached its annual peak, climbing to 419 parts per million (ppm) in May, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes from a report by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA.
Why it matters: It's the highest CO2 reading since reliable instrument data began 63 years ago. Evidence shows it's also a peak since well before the start of human history.” Read more at Axios
“The FBI was able to ‘turn the tables’: Authorities dealt a blow to a hacking group that forced the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, recovering the ‘majority’ of the $4.4 million in cryptocurrency ransom paid to restore the energy system.” Read more at USA Today'
“The Justice Department will defend Donald Trump in a defamation suit filed by E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of rape.” Read more at New York Times
“Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont, a Republican, signed legislation to send mail ballots to all registered voters for general elections.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: David Dushman was a Soviet soldier when he drove his tank through the electric fence surrounding the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945. He died at 98.” Read more at New York Times
“The Atlantic intends to voluntarily recognize a newly formed union of editorial workers, the magazine’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, said Monday.
Staff members announced on Monday morning that they were forming a union affiliated with the NewsGuild, which also represents employees at The New York Times and many other outlets. The union will cover about 85 employees, including writers, editor, fact checkers and producers.” Read more at New York Times
“Donald Trump called Joe Biden a ‘mental retard’ during the 2020 election, a new book says, but was reluctant to attack him too strongly for fear the Democrats would replace him with Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama.
Biden went on to beat Trump by more than 7m in the popular vote and by 306-232 in the electoral college, a result Trump deemed a landslide when it was in his favour against Clinton in 2016.
Trump refused to accept defeat, pushing the lie that it was the result of electoral fraud. The lie resulted in the deadly Capitol attack of 6 January, by a mob Trump told to ‘fight like hell’, and a second impeachment. Trump was acquitted of inciting the insurrection and remains eligible to run for office.
He tops polls of Republican nominees for 2024 and has returned to public speaking. On Monday, Forbes reported a planned tour with the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who left the network amid claims of sexual misconduct.
Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, by Michael Bender of the Wall Street Journal, will be published in August. Trump was among interviewees for the book. Vanity Fair published an excerpt on Monday.” Read more at The Guardian
“Far apart | Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress face a narrowing path to pass Biden’s $4 trillion economic agenda before the August recess. They may have to resort to the politically tricky tactic of using fast-track budget rules known as reconciliation because the president has made little progress in talks with Republicans.
Biden released a multi-pronged strategy today to secure critical supply chains in products ranging from medicines to microchips” Read more at Bloomberg
“The two men who were arrested in connection to a road rage shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy in California will appear in court Tuesday . Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, and Wynne Lee, 23, were taken into custody Sunday and are likely to be charged with murder. Aiden Leos, 6, was shot fatally on May 21, as his mother was driving him to school. According to Leos' mother, Joanna Cloonan, and those who stopped to help her, she made a hand gesture to a car that cut her off, which then drove behind her, and someone fired into Cloonan's vehicle. Aiden, who was sitting in the back seat, was shot in the abdomen and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.” Read more at USA Today
“Peru’s election. Socialist candidate Pedro Castillo has taken the slightest of leads in Peru’s presidential election, with 95 percent of ballots of counted. Castillo currently leads his conservative rival Keiko Fujimori by 0.4 percent. Looking at a potential third straight presidential election defeat, Fujimori has alleged voter fraud and encouraged her supporters to share evidence of vote stealing on social media. ‘There’s a clear intention to boycott the will of the people,’ Fujimori said at a press conference.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Mladic in court. Judges at an international court in the Hague will today hand down a verdict on former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, who appealed a 2017 conviction on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Mladic, dubbed the ‘Butcher of Bosnia,’ had been sentenced to life in prison, but his lawyers argue he is not responsible for the actions of his subordinates.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Israel’s new government. The vote to swear in the new Israeli government will take place in the coming week, but a specific date has not yet been set, said Yariv Levin, Israel’s parliament speaker and an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the vote may come as soon as Wednesday, it is expected to take place next Monday, the final date it can legally be held.
Netanyahu and his allies have been accused of slowing the political process as they attempt to derail the fragile eight-party coalition, which Netanyahu has falsely accused of ‘the greatest election fraud in the history of the country.’ Still, the coalition has yet to crack, and if it’s approved, Naftali Bennett, the leader of the right-wing Yamina party, will become prime minister in a rotation agreement with centrist leader Yair Lapid.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“With Pride Month underway, Gallup reports this morning that U.S. support for legal same-sex marriage hit a record 70%.
It's a 10-point gain since 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled that states must recognize same-sex marriage.
For the first time, Republicans show majority support (55%).
Age breakdown: 84% of young adults, 72% of middle-aged adults, and 60% of older adults.” Read more at Gallup
“Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren — author of ‘The Purpose Driven Life,’ which he says has been translated into 137 languages and sold 50 million copies — announced his retirement after 42 years of leading Saddleback Church in Southern California.
Warren, 67, told his congregation by video Sunday that he'll continue as lead pastor until a successor is in place, The Orange County Register reported.
‘That's always been my goal, to serve God's purpose in my generation,’ Warren said. ‘God has given me the privilege to serve multiple generations.’
Saddleback has grown to 14 locations in Southern California (average weekly attendance: 30,000), plus four international campuses.
Warren told The New Yorker's Michael Luo in December that during the pandemic, he was encouraging congregants to attend virtual services, meet online in small groups and volunteer at pop-up food pantries.
Warren told Luo by email: ‘Shepherds (that’s what 'pastor' means) are called to protect God’s Flock not expose it to danger, and I’m not willing to risk people’s health just to have a live audience to speak to.’” Read more at Axios
“A crisis at the iconic Hoover Dam: The effects of drought and climate change are visible, as the dam will soon hold the smallest amount of water since it was filled in the 1930s.” Read more at USA Today
June 7, 2021: An aerial photo of the sea at the Caddebostan shore, in Asian side of Istanbul, with a huge mass of marine mucilage, a thick, slimy substance made up of compounds released by marine organisms, in Turkey's Marmara Sea. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised Saturday to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of ‘sea snot’ that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists.Kemal Aslan, AP
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to rescue the Marmara Sea from a ‘sea snot’ outbreak that is alarming experts. Erdogan said dumped untreated waste and climate change caused the sea snot bloom.” Read
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